Side Roads
by disturbed-girl
Summary: An injured Duo and a worried Relena find themselves on a road trip together as they try to escape from OZ. Through their journey a friendship is formed and secrets are revealed as OZ is on their tail. COMPLETE
1. CHAPTER ONE

Notes: Well, it starts off a bit choppy, but I promise it will get better as the story progresses, at least I intend for that to happen. No warnings, yet at least. Please share your thoughts on the story so I know what you like, don't like, what needs to be fixed or changed, anything is helpful and appreciated greatly. Umm, I guess that's about it. Oh, my apologies for any spelling or grammar errors, I'm honestly not in the mood to proof read, you know how it is, okay, okay, I'll admit it, I'm too lazy, oh well, we all have our flaws. Okay, on with the story.  
  
Disclaimer: yadayadayada, don't own Gundam Wing, don't claim to, etc, etc.  
  
SIDE ROADS  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
I looked down at the small piece of paper in my hand and read the scribbled address off of it then looked up at the decaying building. Covernet Apartments, that was it. The ancient brick building that seemed to be crumbling before my eyes was where Heero was supposed to be staying. What an awful place. I admit that I'm used to magnificent homes, or I guess you could say palaces, so naturally the thought of people actually living in that horrible building before me was quite a shock.  
  
Taking a deep breath, which I realized was not a good idea since it caused me to gag, I managed to open the main door and entered the building. Immediately I was meet with pungent smells that seemed to smack me in the face and caused my eyes to water. I could hear the wailing cries of a child, which resembled the screeching and constant badgering sound of a police siren. Yes, people actually did live there. I swallowed hard and forced myself to climb the staircase to the third floor. I covered my mouth with my hand to hold back a scream as a cockroach crawled in front of my feet. Easy Relena, just a small bug. Like hell that was a small bug! It was the size of a cat! I quickly ran passed it.  
  
I looked down at the piece of paper again, 313. I made my way down the poorly lit hallway, avoiding the unknown species that scurried and scampered in the shadows. I reached the end of the hall. Well, here it was, room 313. Right next to an emergency exit door, and on the top floor. Soldiers always planned ahead for everything, didn't they? Well here goes, I thought as I knocked on the door three times, and waited, and waited some more. No answer. Not like I had really expected him to come and answer the door. "Heero, its Relena." I said as loud as I dared through the wooden door. Still no answer, he must not be in. Now what?  
  
I could feel the grin slowly spread across my face as I hurried down the stairs. I found the manager of the building, which wasn't all that easy. With puppy dog eyes I explained to him how my husband had once again left me, and that I needed to get back into our place to get some things. Could he please unlock the door for me? With a grunt and a sigh I finally got the large unshaven man out of his chair to unlock the door.  
  
Finally I was inside. With one glance I could see that the room wasn't any better then the rest of the building. It was very plain, plain and filthy. The apartment was made up of three rooms. A bathroom, which I didn't dare enter, a bedroom, which held only a bed, and then the living room, which was also the kitchen. The living room had a couch and a coffee table with ring stains on it, and nothing more. How sad. No pictures or personal items were anywhere. The apartment had no life, well unless you wanted to count all the rodents and bugs, but I personally wanted to ignore them all, for I feared I'd throw up if I took note of them.  
  
Well, no Heero. I figured I'd wait for him, after all I wanted to see him so badly. I glanced at the couch. The cushions bulged in some places and lacked stuffing in others. They were torn and stained different shades, causing the original color of material to be unknown. I definitely didn't want to sit down. Sighing, I decided the best thing for me to do was stand, stand perfectly still, stand perfectly still and pray to God that he'd arrive soon.  
  
An hour later I heard someone fussing with the door. Unsure of what to do, and frightened that it was not Heero I moved to the corner of the room and imagined myself shrinking until I became invisible. The door finally opened and a boy stumbled in. Not Heero. Shit! What do I do? He fell back on the door, shutting it with his back. With his face visible I was able to recognize him. It was Heero's partner, Duo was it? Relief washed over me to see him rather than a big burly man.  
  
"Duo?" The boy jolted up, realizing that he was not alone, he had drawn and aimed his gun at me. He stared at me and I saw a flicker of recognition in his violet eyes, which was replaced by confusion, then pain. He lowered his gun and grabbed his side with his arm.  
  
"Duo!" I saw the blood then. I ran to him fearing that he would topple over, and he nearly did, but I wrapped my arms around his waist, stopping his fall. He gratefully wrapped his arm around my shoulder to help hold himself up.  
  
I staggered over to the couch with him, I could sense that he felt bad putting so much weight on me, but he really didn't have a choice in the matter. I cringed as I placed him on the filthy couch, but where else could I put him? He released a gasp as he sank into the lumpy cushions. His arm still held onto his side and I found myself starring at the blood that was seeping out from under it. His talking broke my stare.  
  
"-bathroom, under the sink." I nodded my head and left him to get what I assumed would be a first aid kit. I flung open the sink cupboard, ignoring the cockroaches that scrambled out of the light, I grabbed the white metal box and ran back to him.  
  
He was slowly pealing his shirt off, allowing me to see the two deep gashes along his right side. Blood poured out of the gashes like a faucet with low water pressure. Swallowing hard I moved to him.  
  
He looked up at me, then at the first aid kit I held in my hands. I knelt down and opened it, revealing its continents of gauze, ointment, medicine, and bandages. Before I could grab the bandages he reached in, with his blood coated hand, and pulled out a green glass bottle. He sucked in air as the movement shot pain through him. I removed the bottle from his hand and read the label, Antiseptics. My stomach sank; this was really going to hurt. I gave him a sympathy look as I untwisted the cap; he surprised me with half a grin.  
  
"This is going to sting." He closed his eyes as I pulled away his shirt, which he was using to stop the bleeding. I poured the liquid from the bottle over his gashes, his muscles tensed as I did so. I looked at his face, his eyes were squeezed shut, and his teeth were tightly clenched together. Finished with the bottle I tossed it aside.  
  
"All done." I quietly said as I glanced around the room for a towel or clean cloth to wipe him off with. Not seeing anything, and figuring that there wasn't anything, I removed the jean jacket that I was wearing over my pale yellow tang top. As I used it Duo opened his eyes.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
I smiled at him. "That's okay, you know as well as I do, that I can easily buy another." That caused him to laugh, which caused him to hold back a scream. I felt guilty for being the one who caused the pain.  
  
I reached into the kit, for the first time I noticed his blood covering my own hands. Swallowing the lump that was rising in my throat, I grabbed the gauze and bandages and wrapped his wounds.  
  
"My ankle's twisted." He said as I finished up. I looked down at his leg that lay across the couch. I was about to look at his ankle when he grabbed my arm to stop me. Shocked, I looked at him. He raised his finger to his chapped lips. Fear washed over me as I heard what he had, footsteps by the door. Still holding my hand he sat up. I went to push him back down, he shouldn't be moving, but he looked at me and shook his head no, I stopped and helped him up. He pointed to the first aid kit. I assumed he wanted me to grab it, so I did. He then pointed at the bedroom. Once again supporting him, we quietly waddled our way to the room.  
  
"Closet." He whispered into my ear. His warm breath nearly sent chills down my spine. The closet, great, we're going to hide in a closet. They'll never find us there, I thought as I opened the closet door. It was empty, except for two wire hangers slightly swinging.  
  
Duo turned to me. "Under the bed is a bag, grab it, put the first aid kit in it. Grab the jacket too." I looked to see a black jacket lying at the end of the bed, silently obeyed. Bending down, I looked under the bed. I pulled out a black backpack, sending dust bunnies everywhere. A loud crack, like the sound of thunder striking a tree, caused me to shoot up from the floor. I looked over at Duo, he was stomping his foot on the floor boards in the closet, causing the already decaying wood to snap and break.  
  
"Duo?" Had he gone insane? He kept breaking the floorboards.  
  
"Come on." He turned to me and held out his hand. I stood still starring at him, then I heard the front door being broken down. I ran to him, he took my hand and with his other hand took the jacket from me. Moving to the side he revealed a hole in the floor that he had made. I looked down it, into the room below.  
  
I felt his hands on my shoulders as he eased me to the hole. "It's not far. You can do it." He comfortingly said. I nodded my head yes, he released my shoulders and I looked down again through the hole, I could do it, no problem. I jumped down it. I landed on my butt, ouch; they always make it seem so easy in movies. I got up and while rubbing my soar bottom I glanced around the room. It was the same as Duo's. I hoped to God that it was vacant.  
  
"Here." I looked up as Duo, now wearing the jacket, tossed the bag down. I caught it then shot my head up at him as I heard the window in his living room shatter. They had gotten into his apartment. With a deep breath Duo jumped down and landed in a crouching position. Showoff. He released a yelp as his injuries protested. He bit back the pain and stood up. He glanced around the room; thankful no one lived there. He and I shuffled to the apartment's front door. He opened it and poked his head outside to look down the hallway. He brought his head back in and turned to me.  
  
"Let's go." Opening the door we left the room. "It won't take them long to figure us out." He said as we reached the second floor's exit door. He kicked it open with his good leg and we quickly, well as fast as we could, made our way down the rusty metal fire escape that cried out with each step we took. When we reached the ground he led me over to the side of the building where unruly bushes were. Pushing the branches and leaves aside he revealed a motorcycle. I helped him pull it out. He tossed me the black helmet that rested on the leather seat, without asking any questions I put it on. I placed the backpack that he told me to get on my back.  
  
The sounds of several people shouting and running around reached us. No doubt the noise were people looking for Duo.  
  
"You'll have to come with me. I can't leave you here." Duo crawled up onto the bike, he tucked his long braid into the back of his jacket, then turned to me. I flung my leg over the black motorcycle, straddling it, and wrapped my arms around his waist. When I remembered his wounds I quickly removed my arms.  
  
"Here." He raised his arms slightly. I put my arms under his armpits and then wrapped my hands around his shoulders. He kicked the stand up, thankfully it was his right ankle that was injured, and gave the bike gas.  
  
We flew down the side street, gunfire following us. One of the OZ officers had seen us. They now knew that I was with Duo, and they knew that we were on a motorcycle.  
  
"Shit!" I vaguely heard Duo over the bike's engine. He obviously was thinking the same thing.  
  
"Duo?" I shouted his name, that seemed to be all I was saying lately, as I raised the black visor on my helmet up. He slightly turned his head so that his left ear was turned to me. "What now?"  
  
"They know you're with me, so now you gotta stay with me. Damn, Heero's going to be soo pissed!" I blushed at the thought of Heero. "They know we're on a motorcycle, so we'll have to ditch this. They also know I'm injured, I left the bloody rags behind." I could sense in the tone of his voice that he was mad with himself.  
  
"Where will we go?"  
  
"Heero and I are suppose to meet at a checkpoint in four days. We can, shit!" I tightened my grip as the bike swerved. I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard the gunfire.  
  
Duo gave the bike more gas; we were flying down the street. "Hold on!" He shouted to me. He didn't have to tell me that. He gracefully weaved and maneuvered the bike between the cars that littered the streets. I felt like I was on some sickening amusement park ride as my head whipped back and forth. I managed to open my eyes and look behind us. Two black cars were chasing after us, just like the movies I thought to myself. We skidded across the pavement as Duo made a fast turn onto another street. He had to adjust to my extra weight on the turns. He balanced the bike.  
  
This was insane! I just wanted to see Heero, but now I was involved in a chase, and I was the one being chased! I heard a bullet whiz by, with a meek scream a pressed my head down into Duo's back.  
  
He took more sharp turns, trying to lose our pursuers. The cars couldn't make such turns as fast as we were, so we were largening the gap between us, but Duo still couldn't shake them. We made another turn down an alleyway. I looked up to see where we were headed. I released a scream when I saw the brick wall that we were about to crash into. I felt the bike swerving and heard the screeching of its tires, but I didn't feel myself being splattered onto the brick wall. Then I heard a loud explosion and felt the heat of flames and smell of smoke. I opened my eyes to see that we were speeding down a very narrow path between two buildings. I looked back and saw that the one car had crashed into the wall and the other car had crashed into the back of it. Both cars were engulfed in dancing flames.  
  
Relief washed over me and I loosened my grip on Duo, which I hadn't realized was so tight. Then I released the breath of air that I had been holding. With only a pair of jean shorts and a tang top on, I nudged closer to Duo for warmth as the wind lashed out at us. 


	2. CHAPTER TWO

Notes: I'm going to update as often as possible. Unfortunately schoolwork, I've got so many stupid papers and essays due, will limit my time, but whenever I can I'll update. So don't think I'm not going to finish it just because it's been a while since I last updated. All right then, well, I hope you enjoy! As always comments/reviews are very much appreciated! Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter!  
  
SIDE ROADS  
  
CHAPTER TWO  
  
I don't know how long we had been driving; all I knew was that I had arrived at the apartment early that morning, now I awoke to find that the sun was setting behind us. Poor Duo had been driving the entire time. I looked around to see if I could figure out where we were; there was nothing, nothing but the road in front of us and behind, and dirt to the sides of it, for what seemed to be endless miles.  
  
After about another hour of driving we pulled into the parking lot of what looked to be a deserted hotel. The neon light flashed vacancy, well; it flashed five of the seven letters. I could see the exhaustion in Duo's face as he slowly crawled off of the motorcycle.  
  
"Come on." He extended his hand and I took it while scooting off of the side of the bike. Like a lost puppy I followed him as he grabbed the motorcycle's handles and pushed it to the back of the hotel. "Umm." He glanced around. "Where's the bag?"  
  
"Oh." I pulled off the bag's straps from around my shoulders and handed it to him.  
  
"Thank you very much darlin." He flashed me a cheesy smile while he opened the bag and pulled out a clean black shirt, the exact same kind he had been wearing earlier. Next he removed a wad of cash. I had to stop my mouth from dropping open. God that was a lot of money, yet he had been staying in that disintegrating apartment building before. He took a few bills out of it and placed them in his pant's pocket, while he put the rest of the money back in the bag and zipped it closed.  
  
Carefully he pulled the jacket off of himself and rested it on the bike's seat. I knew the jacket must have had blood on it because his bandages were bloody, but I couldn't see the blood due to the material being black. Perhaps that was the reason behind the almost morbid all black attire he wore. He slid carefully into the clean shirt, making sure not to disturb his wounds. Then, as if he had pulled a new face out of the bag as well, he changed the slightly pained expression on his face into a happy bubbly boy with a huge grin.  
  
Flinging one of the bag's straps around his shoulder he took hold of my hand again and we walked back around the building and into the hotel's office.  
  
A thin man with a narrow and sharp nose and greasy slicked back hair sat behind the desk in front of us.  
  
"Excuse me sir." Duo said in a voice that reminded me of an early morning radio show host, the ones that made you want to go through the radio to strangle them for being so bright and cheerful so early in the morning. The man raised his head and his beady eyes above his birdlike nose glared at us. "We need a room for four please." Four, why four? "For me, the Misses," he raised our linked hands slightly, "and our two little rascals. Actually two double beds would be perfect." Duo turned to me and flashed me what had to have been the lord of all cheesy smiles. "Doesn't that sound good darlin?"  
  
"Oh, yes, yes that sounds perfect." I decided to join the play. I squeezed his hand. "Precious." I could see Duo's eyes laugh at the nickname I had given him. He turned away as the man slid a form across the desk to us. Without any direction Duo grabbed the paper and glanced around for a pen.  
  
"Sir? Do you---" The man tossed him a pen without a word. Duo picked it up and filled the brief form out. When he was done he pushed the paper towards the man.  
  
"75." The man spoke, revealing the gaps between the few teeth he still had. Duo pulled out a few bills from his pocket and gave them to the man.  
  
"If you don't mind sir, we'd like to have a room on the end." The man gave Duo a questioning look. "You see, we don't want our rascals to disturb anyone."  
  
"No one here to bother, but if that's what ya want." The man spit some chewing tobacco into a can, causing me to have to hold back the urge to make a disgusted face, I looked down at the floor, which had dried mud and other things from nature on it, best just to close my eyes. The man reached under the counter and removed a big square key and handed it to Duo.  
  
With yet another smile Duo took the key and we left. Once outside he released my hand and gave me the key. "I'm gonna get the bike."  
  
"Okay." I looked down and read the number on the key, 12. I walked down the sidewalk full of cracks with grass and weeds growing between, and reached room twelve, which was the last room on the ground floor. I unlocked the door and pushed it open and entered a tacky room. Shag orange carpet, red wallpaper, gaudy lamps with beads, and two double beds, with yellow covers greeted me. Would we never be rid of this ancient style? The room smelt stale, and there was a blanket of dust covering everything.  
  
"Ah, home sweet home." Duo said as he pushed the motorcycle into the room. I didn't know if he was serious or not, and the fact that he had a motorcycle in the room made me decide not to bother in asking. He put down the bike's stand, closed the room's door, and tossed the bag onto the bed. He bolted the door and then looked at the chain lock.  
  
"I think we can do better than this." Letting go of the chain, allowing it to clatter against the closed door, I watched him as he grabbed a wooden chair and pushed it under the door handle. "That's somewhat better." I watched him as he limped about the room, like someone who hadn't put his one shoe on, checking and securing all of the windows and anything else he thought that needed to be taken care of.  
  
He favored his right leg as he made his way over to the bed and opened up the bag that he had thrown there. He dug through it and removed a small handgun. I wasn't surprised; of course he would have a gun with him. Next he opened the gun's cartridge and then dug in his bag again and took out another cartridge. He loaded the gun and with a satisfying click he closed it and placed it under the bed's pillow. He removed the gun he had in the back of his waistband and after checking it over he put it back.  
  
Easing himself onto the bed he crossed his right leg over his left so that he could look at his injured ankle. He pulled his pant leg up and slowly removed his boot and sock. His ankle was swollen and discolored like a bruised peach. He muttered something under his breath having to do with a 'damn chair'. Taking the first aid kit out of the bag he removed bandages from it and expertly wrapped the cloth material around his ankle. After making sure it was tight enough he put his sock back on, which had proven to be a difficult task since it refused to fit over the layers of bandages, he then placed his boot back on.  
  
"Well babe, I need some rest. Don't leave the room while I'm asleep. Stay away from the windows and don't answer the phone or door for anyone. I'll be up in two hours." I nodded my head yes. He slowly laid down on the bed, which was the one closest to the door, and not bothering to pull down the covers he closed his eyes and welcomed the well overdue sleep.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll make sure the rascals keep it down." He chuckled a little, with his eyes still closed, at my remark then the room was filled with silence.  
  
I had slept so long on the motorcycle that now I found myself bored and restless, so I wandered around the room. I thought about turning on the television, but I didn't want to disturb Duo, besides I doubted it got any channels. I sat down on the bed across from Duo. How strange it was, I had only meet him two times before this, and those meetings were both very brief, with very few words exchanged. Now here we were running away from OZ together, staying in a cheep hotel room. Well, at least we didn't have to share a bed.  
  
I frowned when I noticed his face. The smile that usually graced it was gone and now he looked so aged and sad in his sleep. Was that Duo's true self? Too old for his age, and too tired even in sleep? Was it the same for Heero?  
  
-------------------------  
  
Two hours later, just as he had said, he woke up. He slowly eased off of the bed and his smile immediately covered his face once again. Even though he was hiding it, I could tell his injuries were bothering him.  
  
"Duo?" I stood up from the chair I had been dozing on. "Don't your bandages need to be changed?"  
  
He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, probably." He walked over to the duffel bag and took out the first aid kit again. Sitting back down on the bed he had slept on, he slowly peeled off his shirt. I walked over to him to help remove it. Once it was over his head and his bare skin was visible I held my breath. It was as if he wore a blanket of scars, large and small markings were scattered all over his body. With a subtle head nod he thanked me. He was so shy while his past was visible to me. He unraveled the bandages and I acted as if there were nothing wrong. But then I released a gasp. His skin was so discolored underneath the bandages. His side was the sickly colors of yellow and purple. The colors swirled and formed blotches together. It reminded me of when I was a child and would mix my left over ice cream together, making the colors crash and mix, which resulted in an ugly mess of different shades. At least the gashes had stopped bleeding, I thought, trying to think positively.  
  
He heard my gasp and saw my concern. "It's okay. I've just got a broken rib. That's why I'm bruised, nothin' ta worry about." When I didn't say anything he grabbed my one hand so that I'd look at his face. He flashed me a brilliant and sincere smile. "Really Relena, I'm perfectly fine. Trust me, this is just like a paper cut to me." I couldn't believe he compared this to a paper cut, but I gave him a smile.  
  
"Okay. Well, let's change the bandages then."  
  
------------------------  
  
We were back on the road. My guess was that it was around noon. Duo turned his head slightly to face me. "We're gonna have to get new transportation as soon as possible. We'll get some food too."  
  
God was I hungry, I didn't want to say anything, so at the mention of food I couldn't help but smile.  
  
"Yeah, me too." Duo said, noticing my smile.  
  
An hour later, I felt like I was going to keel over, Duo pulled into a small town. He slowed down as we made our way down the pretty much- deserted street. When he saw a mini mart he pulled over and stopped. I got off of the bike and questioned if my butt still existed.  
  
"Get some bottled water, a few bottles of pop, I'm gonna need the caffeine, and whatever food you want. Try not to get too much, we have to play it low. I'm gonna stand by the door and keep an eye on things." He gave me some bills.  
  
I nodded my head and strolled into the store. The door's bell jingled a friendly but annoying tune as I entered, Duo behind me. The man at the register gave a small wave at us. I smiled at him, grabbed a shopping basket, and walked over to the fridge. Duo stood by a magazine rack next to the door and pretended to be looking at the fishing magazines.  
  
I grabbed a couple of waters and pops and then browsed the food selection. After making my choices I brought them to the register.  
  
"Will that be all ma'am?"  
  
"Yes." He rang me up and I paid him.  
  
"Have a good day."  
  
"You too." I grabbed the bag he placed everything in, walked past Duo and out the door, Duo following me. That was easy enough.  
  
"Alright, now for new transportation." Duo turned to me. "Do you still have some money?" I nodded my head yes. "Okay, go across the street there" he pointed to a friendly ice cream shop, "and get some ice cream for yourself. I'm gonna browse around here. When I walk in front of the shop come out and follow me. Watch for me. Here." He slowly turned me and put my back against the store's brick wall. He raised his left arm so that it rested against the wall beside my head, blocking me off from everything. He quickly removed the gun from his back waistband with his other hand and slid it into my hands.  
  
"Put it in your waistband, make sure you keep it covered. Just incase something happens while I'm gone. Okay, do you know what to do?"  
  
I hid the gun as he told me. "Yes."  
  
"Okay then." He turned to leave.  
  
"Duo." He stopped and looked at me. I wanted to tell him to be careful, but how stupid and pointless would that be? "I wouldn't mind a convertible." He grinned.  
  
"I'll see what I can do." He turned and made his way down the street as I walked across it and entered the ice cream shop.  
  
The gun in my waistband was so uncomfortable, it was almost unbearable. How could he stand it? Trying to ignore it I glanced down at the glass counter and examined the choices of ice cream that were displayed.  
  
Fifteen minutes later I saw him through the large glass window. Casually I got up from the small circular table for two, at least I hope it was casual, and I walked out. I walked a little bit to meet him; he was standing next to a mailbox.  
  
"Okay, I found a car in someone's backyard. No one's home and no one seems to be around. The cars got enough gas in it, I checked. Ice cream."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your ice cream's dripping." He pointed at the ice cream that was about to drip on my fingers.  
  
"Oh." I quickly licked the sides of the cone.  
  
"The house is on the edge of town, so the yard runs back into a vacant field, which edges against a road. I can start the car; you'll have to drive it to the road. Go down about ten miles and I'll meet ya."  
  
"Wait, what?" I held up my free hand to signal for him to stop. "You want me to steal the car? No way!" What was he thinking? No, he wasn't thinking, that was the problem.  
  
"Look, we can't leave the bike here, it'll be a dead give away that we were here, which means they'll be able to connect us to the car we steal easily. I'm gonna have to ditch the bike, so you'll have to drive the car out of here."  
  
I starred at him in disbelief. No way! I couldn't steal a car!  
  
Ten minutes later I found myself sitting in the driver's seat of a station wagon. Duo hot-wired it; he made it look so easy, that or it really was that easy for him. He shut my door and leaned on it while he put his head through the window.  
  
"Aww, I know you're upset that I didn't get you a convertible, but this car suits you well." I shot him a death glare, which just caused him to laugh, I guess I have to work on that. "Okay Relena, just drive straight to the road. Turn right on it and go down about ten miles. Pull over and wait for me, I'll be there as soon as possible. If anyone stops you or asks if there's something wrong, tell them you simply had to pull over for a nap, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, everything is okay. I'm just stealing a station wagon!" I said it sarcastically in a cheery voice, with a smile plastered on my face. Duo laughed yet again at me.  
  
"That's my girl." He pushed off the door. "You have the gun?" I nodded my head yes. "Okay then, I'll see you in a bit." I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he snuck out the backyard, backpack slung over his one shoulder. I could just see the headlines; 'Relena Peacecraft Steals Family's Station Wagon'. Ugh. I put the car in drive and drove to the road. I kept glancing in my review mirror, waiting to see a pregnant woman with a shotgun chasing after me, but there was no one there. I turned right onto the road and with every mile I slowly released my breath.  
  
I waited for Duo. It was so hot in the car, the sun was scorching. I heard a motor so I looked back to see if it was Duo, it wasn't. Panic quickly rose in me. What do I do, what do I do? The car got closer. Shit! Where was Duo? As the car reached me it began to slow down. I smiled as best I could and waved him on. He waved back at me and continued on his way. I sank into the seat as the panic left me. I couldn't handle this.  
  
I heard another engine approaching. God please let this be Duo. I glanced in the rearview mirror and almost jumped out of the car when I saw that it was him. He slowly drove past me on the motorcycle and waved me on to follow him. Okay, I could do that. I put the car in drive and followed him.  
  
When we reached a small wooded area with a pond, Duo motioned for me to stop. I pulled over and parked the car along the side of the road as Duo turned off the motorcycle and got off of it. Pushing it by the handlebars I watched him disappear into the woods.  
  
A few minutes later he exited the woods without the bike and walked over to the car. I noticed that his boots were coated in mud. He opened my door, and assuming that he intended to drive, I slid across the hot leather seat to the passenger's side. He put the bag down on the seat and opened it.  
  
"Any problems?"  
  
"No. Someone past by, but that was it." He removed black electrical tape from the bag. The duffel bag was beginning to seem magical each time he removed something from it. Was he prepared for everything? He took it and walked to the front and back of the car and changed some of the letters and numbers of the license plate. Very clever of him, I thought as he got in the car. He tossed the bag into the back seat next to the groceries and then pulled the car back onto the road. 


	3. CHAPTER THREE

Notes: Thanks so much for the reviews! It really helps me to know if I'm headed in the right direction and if I have your attention. Please keep them coming! Umm, let's see, oh, it was mentioned that I used 'past' in the wrong tense, my apologies. As I mentioned before I'm lazy, so I don't proofread very well, and things like that slip right by me. So apologies for any mistakes in the future, I understand they can be annoying, but I'll try to limit them. Umm, that's about it, well enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: Oops, I forgot to put one with the last chapter, hehe, oh well. Well, this disclaimer goes for this chapter, the last chapter, and any chapter in the future that I forget to say the legal junk for. *Takes a deep breath* Mobile Suit Gundam Wing or New Mobile Report Gundam Wing, characters, and related items are registered trademarks of Sotsu Agency Sunrise and Bandai Entertainment ©1979-2002. This is an unofficial story created without the permission or endorsement of Sotsu Agency Sunrise and Bandai Entertainment; the story is for fan purposes only.  
  
Oy, glad to get that out of the way.  
  
SIDE ROADS  
  
CHAPTER THREE  
  
Unfortunately we came to the realization that the car lacked air-condition.  
  
"I told you to get a convertible." I said, putting on my pouting face and crossing my arms over my chest. Duo placed his hand on the car's huge dashboard.  
  
"Shh, don't upset Betty." He caressed the car. "Ignore her Betty, she's just jealous of you." I snorted at that.  
  
"Jealous of what?"  
  
"Well it's obvious, but if you want me to say it then I will, you're jealous that my heart is for Betty and for her alone." Oh God, I couldn't stop laughing. He said it so seriously! He turned away from me, pretending to be hurt, at times he reminded me of a child so much.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry Duo. I'm sure the two of you will share many wonderful miles together." I couldn't help but laugh again.  
  
"We will, thank you very much." He raised his nose and tilted his head up in a snooty royalty way, which I saw all too often. I rolled my eyes and reached for a bottle of water in the backseat, making sure I pushed into him as I did so.  
  
Not willing to let me win at this children's game that had developed, he pressed down on the gas pedal, sending me forward into the backseat.  
  
--------------------------  
  
If I had to get out of the car anytime soon I would have to be pealed off of the cheap leather seat. Ugh, a cold shower sounded so good. I glanced over at Duo. He drove with one hand; the other rested on his lap. He seemed to be concentrating on driving. I figured I might as well get some shuteye.  
  
"So, what'd you want ta see Heero for?" Just as I was about to see if my seat reclined Duo turned to me. "I'm assuming that's why you were there." I thought for a moment, was there a good reason for me wanting to see Heero? Without turning to him I answered his question.  
  
"Honestly, I just needed to see him. I needed to see for myself that he still existed, that he was still alive."  
  
"It's hard being in love with Heero, isn't it?" He didn't say it in a teasing way; it was an honest question. I was about to deny the usage of the word love, but then realized there was no point.  
  
"Yes." I faced him, he met my eyes. "The only way to know if he's alright is by reports and sightings, and those aren't always accurate."  
  
"You don't have to answer this," he glanced at me then turned back, "what draws you to Heero?" The question surprised me, but I didn't show it. I had to think for a moment again.  
  
"Well, I met Heero during some difficult times." I knew that Duo had heard about the death of my father, and the circumstances around it, so I didn't care to retell it. "It comforts me to be with him. He has so many wonderful qualities in him. He's true to himself, uncompromising, strong, and never stops pursuing his dream. I," I faltered not knowing how to say it, "I want to become like him. I want to have his qualities. He's a symbol to me, a symbol of all that is good. Heero gives me strength."  
  
Yes, that was what drew me to Heero, he was the one I needed to lean on. And I believe that he was searching for the same thing I was, someone to be there, a person to lean on.  
  
"Well, I guess one person you could count on for strength would be Heero."  
  
-------------------------  
  
Duo tilted his head to the side, causing popping noises to follow it, it sounded like bubble package when you twisted it in your hands, he did the same to the other side of his neck. The sun was beginning to set, sending shades of orange and red across the sky. Duo released a sigh and reached back for a bottle of pop.  
  
"Getting tired?"  
  
"Naw, I'm fine." He untwisted the cap and took a swig of it.  
  
"You know, you have been up for a loooong time." Duo began to laugh.  
  
"This is nothing. I've stayed awake for six and a half days."  
  
"Oh please. You couldn't have." He sent me a side-glance.  
  
"You wanna bet?" I laughed.  
  
"Alright then, why were you up for six and a half days?" He removed the bottle from his lips.  
  
"Well, Heero and I were on a mission, somewhere in the Arctic, well actually, the mission was in Mongolia, but somehow we ended up in the Arctic." He shrugged his shoulders as he took another sip of his pop. I faced him as he related the story to me, his eyes continued to watch the road. "The gist of the mission was to take care of this one OZ base, no problem right?" He glanced over at me. "Wrong. It ended up being a hell of a base. We completely underestimated it. With it just being the two of us we had major problems."  
  
I could see it, Duo and Heero in their mobile suits, going up against incredible odds. Heero giving instructions, Duo swearing as he slashed through one of the enemies suits.  
  
"We completed the mission, just barley. Heero's gundam was shot to hell, mine was close. We had to get out of there fast; there was no way we would make it out of another attack. I took hold of Heero's gundam and took us out of there. Our communication was shot, so I couldn't talk to him. I couldn't make it on my fuel with WingZero, I knew I had to hide it, and Heero would have to get into my gundam. After a bit I spotted a good place to ditch Heero's gundam. Well, I got out of my gundam, with some difficulty, you see, I had a sprained ankle, a broken wrist, and a bitch of a headache."  
  
"I made my way to WingZero, Heero hadn't opened the cockpit yet, I guessed that it was stuck." He looked at me. "Let me tell you, it's no easy task to open a gundam's cockpit." I smiled, imagining that it wasn't. "Eventually I got it open." He looked away from me. "And I wasn't met with Heero swearing at me, which I had expected, instead Heero limply hung from his broken harness." Duo cleared his throat. "No reason to go into the details, let's just leave it at it was bad, real bad."  
  
Now I needed something to drink. I reached back and grabbed a water.  
  
"I got him out. He was unconscious, and I was thankful for it. Treating his wounds wouldn't have been easy if he was awake."  
  
He talked so casually about it, like it wasn't any big deal, nothing unusual. And that's what scared me, that's what made me shiver.  
  
"Let's see, after that I hide his gundam, I sunk it in the ocean. I knew OZ would have a search party out for us by then. Where we were wasn't the best place for hiding, so I got Heero inside my gundam." He laughed. "Now that was quite a task." He shook his head. "Anyway, once we were all cramped and cozy in my little cockpit we took off. One thing led to another and we ended up landing in the Arctic." He released another laugh. "Correction, we crashed in the Arctic." Duo moved his hand to switch on the car's headlights, fighting off the threatening darkness.  
  
"Well, to try and shorten the story, I had to make sure Heero, who would go in and out of consciousness, and I survived. Damn it was cold!" Duo shivered at the thought of it. "We lucked out, neither of us got frostbite." He looked down at his pop curiously, I could tell that he had forgotten it was there. He took a sip and then continued.  
  
"Eventually our rescue party found us, well Wufei did at least, thank God it wasn't OZ." He looked at me. The dashboard lit his face vaguely. "I don't know what happened on what day, they all kind of merged and became one really long day to me. But I know that we left late on 7-03 and we're rescued on 7-09. So, that's my story."  
  
"Oh." I really didn't know what else to say. Duo shrugged. He looked down at the gas gage and saw it was nearly empty.  
  
"We're gonna have to stop for gas at the next rest stop."  
  
"I think I saw a sign for one about five miles back."  
  
"Yeah, I saw it too. We'll be there in another twenty miles." We drove in silence for a little while, and then I was the one who broke it this time.  
  
"So, do you and Heero always go on missions together?" Duo shifted in his seat.  
  
"Well, I guess we do compared to the others. But really, most of the time we do our missions alone, we only work together when we have to; we're more the solo types. I never really thought about it, but we work well together. When I need backup Heero's my first choice, I think it's the same for him." He scratched the back of his head. "I know that I can depend on him, even if it came to my life, don't get me wrong," he looked at me, "it's the same for all the others, it's just that I have no doubt that Heero would do what was right when it came down to everything." What did he mean by 'what was right,' and 'everything'? I realized I didn't want to ask.  
  
"You two are really good friends." Duo glanced at me. A smile crept across his face.  
  
"Considering that we still talk to each other after me shooting him the first time we met." He glanced over at me. I began to blush when I realized he was talking about the incident where Heero and I both met Duo for the first time. "And considering that he totally destroyed my gundam after I took care of him, gees, all he had to do was ask for the parts." I sensed a bit of annoyance and humor in his voice. "Wow, I guess we aren't really friends are we?" He looked at me as if he just came to an important realization.  
  
"No, just kidding. You're right, we are good friends. We've been through a lot together, and most defiantly will go through a lot more." He shook his head. "This is going to sound stupid, but it's like we have a connection." He looked at me to see my reaction. I smiled.  
  
"That doesn't sound stupid. I feel the same way with Heero." He turned away.  
  
"Well anyway, we just click, and work well together. Even if his silence and stubbornness gets to me a lot. At times I swear he's had a frontal lobotomy. But I know I annoy the hell out of him, but that's just one of the other reasons why we click." He pulled over into the rest stop.  
  
I remained seated in the car as Duo pumped the gas. I rested my head on the back of my seat. I began to hear a quite, melody? I sat up and poked my head out of the window. I smiled when I saw that Duo was whistling. He was leaning against the car, eyes closed, whistling a melancholy tune. I pulled my head back in.  
  
Duo, he was a strange one. I suppose all of the gundam pilots were though, you'd have to be different to be a gundam pilot. I could tell there were many layers to him, he wasn't as simple as he tried to play it. No, he was a very complex person. One who I'm sure had a complex past, present, and future ahead of him. But I realized one thing I definitely knew about him, he cared whole heartily for the cause or reason for his fighting in this ludicrous war. Perhaps I shouldn't call it ludicrous, it sounds like I'm saying everything about its ridiculous, but it's not. Those fighting aren't ridiculous, no; they're heroes, giving everything up for what they believe in, their cause is more important to them than their own lives.  
  
Duo startled me when he got into the car. He started it up and we pulled out. "It's taking us longer to get to the safe house since we have to get there by back roads. Heero's going to be so mad. I hope he doesn't think I got captured or anything." Duo ran a hand through his long bangs.  
  
"Duo, what were you and Heero doing?" Duo glanced over at me.  
  
"You mean our mission?"  
  
"Yes, what was it, and how did you get hurt?" Duo ran his fingers through his bangs again.  
  
"Well, you wouldn't drop it if I told you I'd have to kill you if ya knew?" He asked with a smile.  
  
"You don't hav-" Duo stopped me.  
  
"I was just kidding. It's just that it's a mission that I'm not proud of, but then again, I'm not proud of any." I noticed how his face somehow took on a look of darkness. Is that possible? Well, however you want to describe it, Duo's face had changed.  
  
"We had to get some information," he tuned to me, "records, tests, plans, you know, all that stuff." He turned away. "That was the first part of the mission. The second part was to assassinate two high commanders located there." My stomach turned. "Heero's the best out of all of us when it comes to hacking and stuff, so Heero had the first part of the mission, and I had the second." He released a low chuckle. "I guess I'm the best choice for assassinations, I am the God of Death."  
  
I felt my mouth drop open. 'God of Death?' I closed my mouth as he continued. I had a feeling that he hadn't realized that he had said the last part aloud.  
  
"We got in and eventually split up. I had to go in search for the two commanders; I had my ideas of where they'd be. I made my way through the base; we had been detected, so the place was crazy. Men were running everywhere, sirens and alarms going off. The fact is that really helps out, when everyone is running around not knowing what's going on, I can move around more easily. Hey," he turned to me; "did you get any gum?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Did you get any gum at the mini mart?"  
  
"Oh, no. Sorry."  
  
"That's okay. Hey! Check the glove compartment." I opened the compartment. Papers, maps, and napkins were stuffed inside of it. I rummaged through it.  
  
"How's 'Space Jammers' sound?"  
  
"Terrific!" I tossed him the half-gone pack of purple gum.  
  
"Anyway," he spoke while he champed on the gum. "I came across the first guy, he was no problem, no one was ready or expecting it." I was relieved he didn't go into detail. "But by the time I came across the second guy, they had seen what had happened to the first. He and three others were waiting for me to make my entrance. Naturally I didn't want to disappoint them, so when I made my grand entrance I had bullets flying at me. I was able to disarm two of them with my handgun. Umm," he glanced at me; "a shot to the hand takes care of that." I nodded.  
  
"I figured Heero was done with his part by then, so I had to get out of there. It ended up being a brawl between me and the last guard." He laughed. "Man did we tear that place apart. I hurt my ankle during that spat. Eventually I knocked him out. It was just the commander and me left. Unfortunately my gun was out of ammo; it wasn't going to be easy. I charged him. The sneaky son of a bitch pulled a knife out, that's where the wounds came from." He lightly touched his side. "Well, after a long fight I used his knife against him, completing the mission." He flashed me a smile.  
  
"How do you know Heero completed his part of the mission?"  
  
"Because if he didn't then the plan was to destroy the base, the base still stands, therefor we both completed our missions." 


	4. CHAPTER FOUR

Notes: Sorry for the wait guys! School has been terrible and I'm sad to say that because of that the next update probably won't be for at least another week. Sorry to make you guys wait. Well, this chapter is a bit shorter than the others, but I didn't want you guys to have to wait any longer. Umm, warning for swear words, that's about it. Okay then, well enjoy and please review. Thanks!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it. Look at chapter three's disclaimer if you're not satisfied with this one.  
  
CHAPTER FOUR  
  
I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I was sitting in the car alone. I glanced out of the window to see that we were at a motel. I heard some talking, was that Spanish? I pocked my head out of the window to try and hear better. Duo was speaking to the manager, at least I assumed that was who he was, and he was fluently speaking in Spanish with the man. They shook hands and then Duo walked over to the car.  
  
"Hey sleeping beauty." I smiled sheepishly.  
  
"I didn't know you spoke Spanish." He laughed lightly.  
  
"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." I laughed a little.  
  
"Yes, you're right. So, what was that all about?"  
  
"He's agreed to let us use one of the rooms for a few hours so that we can shower and stuff." He said while pointing to the man as he entered his office.  
  
"Thank God! I don't think I could have gone any longer without a shower."  
  
He grabbed his bag and walked over to one of the rooms, I got out of the retched car and followed him.  
  
The room was filthy, no surprise there. "Well, at least we don't have to sleep here." Duo said positively. He made his way to the bathroom, flicked its light on then quickly turned around, slamming the door shut behind him. "Umm, I'll go first, maybe I can clean it up a little that way." He said with a weak smile as he leaned against the door. Before he went in the bathroom again he locked the room up and ordered me not to leave. Oddly he grabbed one of the pillows from the bed then entered the bathroom with it, shutting the door behind him. A lot of strange noises came from behind the closed door, it sounded like he was running into the walls. I placed my ear up against the door, I could make out a few muffled swear words, but that was about it. What in the world was going on in there?  
  
I jumped back as he opened the door, coming out with the pillow slung over his one shoulder. He looked at me. "Umm, yeah." He looked away as he unlocked one of the windows and heaved the pillow out of it. After locking the window back up he slapped his hands together. "Okay, now time for that shower."  
  
-------------------------  
  
After a while, longer than I had anticipated, Duo exited the bathroom. He had his black pants on, no shirt. Water caused his well-formed chest and arms to glisten. Resting in the center of his chest was a large plain cross. He had a towel hanging around his neck, his hair, no longer braided, fell about him in long ringlets. He was holding a smaller towel against his wounds as he crossed the room.  
  
"Sorry, it's hard to shower with this," he motioned to the wounds "and the hair is a pain in the ass."  
  
"I'm sure it is." Now that we were closer I could see the exhaustion in his face. He needed sleep, and I was going to make sure he got it.  
  
"Well, the showers all yours, it's not that bad now."  
  
--------------------------  
  
When I got out Duo was sitting on the double bed. His shirt was still off, but his wounds were now bandaged. He was working on his hair, rhythmically braiding it. As I dried my hair off with the towel I walked over and sat on the end of the bed. "Have you always had long hair?" He finished up the braid.  
  
"Yup." He gave a weak smile. "It's sorta like my security blanket."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Well, umm," he fought for words, "It's, it's the only constant thing in my life." I could tell he was embarrassed, so I removed a locket from around my neck.  
  
"This was given to me by my father, Dorlian." I had to be specific whenever I used the word 'father'. "I never go without it, it's always with me, a constant reminder of my father."  
  
---------------------------  
  
While Duo thanked the manager I slid over to the driver's seat. Duo reached for the driver's door and stopped when he saw me sitting there. He was about to say something, most likely 'no' but I cut him off.  
  
"Tell me where to go, I'm driving, you are going to sleep." He shook his head no.  
  
"Relena, I'm driving, I don't need to sleep. Remember, I was up-"  
  
"For six and a half days, but that's not necessary now." I said, cutting him off for the second time. "Now get in." I started the car to signify that I meant to drive, and I was going to. He starred at me for a moment; with an aggravated sigh he went around the car and got into the passenger's seat. He gave me the directions, which weren't difficult.  
  
"We should be there in nine hours."  
  
"Good, then you can sleep for nine hours." He rolled his eyes.  
  
"Yes mother."  
  
A half-hour later he was passed out. His head was slanted to the side, facing me. His mouth was slightly opened, his chest, his arms limply across it, raised slowly up and down as he breathed.  
  
After an hour I was utterly bored. Guilt began to sink in as I imagined Duo driving for hours while I slept. He must have been going insane, I knew I certainly was ready to. I now understood why he had been so adamant to play 'I Spy.' The sun had set, unfortunately it was behind us, so I didn't even have that to look at for entertainment. At least we would be entering a city in a couple of miles, then I would have something to look at other than fields of dirt. After we cut through the city we would only have a few hours left until we were at the safe house. I could finally see Heero! God, talk about a major detour in seeing him. I wonder what he'll do when he sees that Duo had to bring me with him. Duo sniffled. I turned to look at him as he rolled his head over so that now I saw the back of it. I hope Heero doesn't get mad at him.  
  
I saw the lights of the city breaking through the dark. Thank the heavens! Just as I was quietly rejoicing to myself headlights came on behind us form out of nowhere. I squinted my eyes; the bastards had their brights on. Before I knew it they sped up and rammed into the back of us. I screamed as I tried to regain control of the car. Duo fell forward with the impact and slammed into the dashboard.  
  
"Duo!" I looked to the side of me at a lifeless Duo; half on the floor and half sprawled out on the seat. I reached over and vigorously shook him. The car ran into us again from the back. "Duo, wake up!" His eyes fluttered then slowly opened.  
  
"Oy." He grabbed his head then scooted up into his seat. "What the hell?" Another pair of headlights appeared. "Oh fuck!" He looked out the window to see who was on us. "Oh fuck!" He said again then turned to me. "You have to keep driving Relena. Head into the city, that's our only hope in losing them." I nodded my head yes because I was afraid my voice would squeak if I used it.  
  
Duo reached into the back and pulled the bag out. He quickly removed the gun form it and rolled down his window. "Keep heading for the city." He said before the upper half of his body was outside the window. He began to shoot at one of the cars behind us. I could tell he was aiming for their tires because the car was swerving back and forth, like a fish on a hook being pulled in, as small sparks of light appeared in front of their tires.  
  
The other car came up to my side. "Duo!" I screamed as the car rammed into the side of us. Duo clung to the side of the door, keeping himself from flying out of the window. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, not allowing my hands to shake.  
  
"Go faster!" Duo shouted while he continued to fire at the other car.  
  
"I have the pedal to the damn floor!" The car started to come at my side again. "Oh no you don't!" I slammed on the break, sending Duo crashing into the side of the door.  
  
"Relena!"  
  
I swerved to the left, positioning myself behind the other car. "My turn." I said as I accelerated and slammed into the back of the car. Duo looked at me, pure shock written all over his face. Gunfire from behind us broke his stare. I released a small whimper. Why oh why did I not let Duo drive?!  
  
"You're gonna have to swerve to avoid fire. Just move around a lot, but don't make any sort of a pattern." Duo instructed me. He looked down at my waist then reached over me. He grabbed my seatbelt and pulled it over me, buckling me in. I nearly laughed, we had bullets flying at us and here he was buckling me in.  
  
A bullet crashed through our back window. I screamed as I swerved the car, trying to avoid anymore shots. Duo flopped back and forth, like a fish out of water, as he crawled into the back seat. He kicked the rest of the back window out with his one foot and began to fire out of it. I thought my eardrums were going to explode form the noise.  
  
I swerved, causing Duo to tumble over, to avoid another collision with the one car. He looked like a child being rolled around in a barrel. "Duo! We're going to be entering the city!" I shouted, straining my voice over all of the noise. He began to shake his head no.  
  
"Can't! They're not going to hold back the gunfire. We'll put too many people in danger." I huffed, causing my bangs to fly up then fall back down.  
  
"What do you want me to do then?"  
  
"Just keep driving around." He opened fire again.  
  
Oh goody, just like a little joyride, I thought sarcastically.  
  
"It's about damn time!" He shouted as one of the tires of the car behind us blew out. "One down, one ta go."  
  
"Ah, Duo? You might want to make that four."  
  
"What?" He looked out of the front window to see three more cars in front of us. "Oh, that's just lovely! Can't I get a firkin break?!"  
  
I slammed on the breaks and turned the wheel hard to the left, spinning us around. They were right behind, no swerving or maneuverability was going to help us out of this. I just wasn't capable to do anything like that. Duo continued to fire at them, he was now aiming for the drivers.  
  
"Duo!" I screamed, as the one car slammed into our right rear end, causing us to spin out and crash into the one car, stopping us completely.  
  
My head slammed down on the steering wheel. Duo was thrown from the back seat and flew out of the front window. I fought to stay conscious as I heard men running around us, surrounding us, trapping us. I raised my head; the throbbing was so intense I almost threw up. I saw Duo; he lay lifeless on the ground in a puddle of his own blood.  
  
"Duo!" The men jerked opened my car door and yanked me out. Everyone had their guns aimed at us. I was frightened to do anything.  
  
"Miss Relena, I trust that you will not resist and will cooperate." An officer said as he began to lead me away. I knew his face; he was the man that had passed me on the road when we stole the station wagon. They had been tracking us this entire time. An officer's shouting had me spinning back around. He and others were shouting at Duo, yelling at him to get up. When Duo said nothing to them the one man bent down and viciously yanked him up. I screamed as he held Duo up by his collar. The man who had spoken to me grabbed hold of my arms to lead me away. I fought him, kicking and screaming for Duo. 


	5. CHAPTER FIVE

Notes: Hello all! Sorry for the wait. It'll probably be another week for the next update as well. Right now I'm pretty sure that next week's chapter will be the final one. We'll have to see if everything goes as planned. Thanks so much for the reviews once again! Some of them are really sweet, well, to me at least since any review makes me happy! I think that goes for any author though. Umm, let's see, I guess this chapter has some angst, nothing really huge. That's about all, hope you enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing or its characters.  
  
CHAPTER FIVE  
  
I woke up in a cot, in the corner of a small room. The room was very plain, but very clean. A clean room for once, wasn't that lovely? The only other furniture in the room, besides the cot, was a desk and a chair, making me think that I was in an officer's corridor.  
  
"Duo!" My first clear and important thought came to me, which was followed by a throbbing pain in my head. I closed my eyes, trying to push back the pain so I could think. Where was Duo? Was he alive? Had they killed him? I got off of the bed and tried the room's door. It was locked, no surprise there. I began to shout and pound on the door with my fists, my head screaming for me to stop, but I wasn't going to until someone told me what was going on and now. After a couple of minutes of banging on the door, my hands already soar, it opened, and an officer with a smile stood in front of me. I sneered at him and his stupid smile.  
  
"Where's Duo?" I demanded. His smile got a little bigger before he answered me.  
  
"He's being questioned now."  
  
"I want to see him now." I looked at him with eyes of steal. He laughed at me. Damn, I really need to work on that.  
  
"Miss Relena, perhaps you do not realize your position, so I will define it for you. You are a prisoner of war, therefore threats and demands from you will only bring negative consequences." He glanced back. "But, I believe I can arrange for you to see pilot 02."  
  
He led me to a dingy prison cell, with walls and floors of cold concrete. There wasn't any furniture in this room, or windows. A light high above buzzed on and off, creating the noise of an annoying fly beside your ear.  
  
"Wait her please." The officer turned and the heavy metal door slammed shut behind him.  
  
"Like I have a choice." I scoffed.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
When the door opened I held back a scream as they shoved Duo in the room, shutting the door behind them, locking us in. Duo fell to the ground, his hands cuffed behind his back. He was badly battered; his face looked like it had been used as a punching bag. I knelt down beside him and placed his head carefully into my lap. His right eye was completely swollen shut. He had bruises and abrasions all over him.  
  
"Duo, Duo can you hear me?" His eyes remained closed as he released a shaky breath; I took it as a yes. My eyes scanned him over and stopped. I gently pulled away his shirt where his wounds form before were. "Oh no. Duo, you're bleeding badly." His wounds had reopened and now were even worse. On top of that he had scratches adorning his entire body from the windshield. What monsters! How could they do this to him? Duo's wheezing brought my attention back.  
  
"Broken ribs." He whispered. I bit my lower lip while I thought of what should be done. Well first I needed to stop the bleeding. I glanced around for a clean cloth but there was nothing in the room. I was about to take my tang top off, leaving only my bra left, when the door to the cell opened. A man threw a tin box on the floor, which caused a loud hollow clang and several echoes to follow it.  
  
"Keep him alive." He said and shut the door. He had thrown a first aid kit in the room, which I quickly put to use.  
  
----------------------------  
  
I kept a vigil over him while he was either asleep or unconscious, I wasn't sure which, and frankly it didn't matter, as long as he wasn't feeling any of the pain. When his left foot began to rock back and forth I looked down at his face, his head still rested on my lap. His eyes remained closed.  
  
"Duo?"  
  
"Just thinking." He said in a rough voice from lack of use and water. "Did you get to see where we are? They made sure I couldn't."  
  
"Um, no, the car had tinted windows."  
  
"About how long would you say we drove?" He spoke, still keeping his eyes closed.  
  
"Um, let me think, about two hours."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
"Duo?"  
  
"Just trying to figure out where we are. Would you say we went north the majority of the way?"  
  
"I don't know Duo! I wasn't able to think that clear." I looked away from him. "Sorry." My tone hadn't been too pleasant. I was tired, hungry, and wanted to be as far from that place as possible.  
  
"That's okay. I'm gonna need your help though."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"I want to save up as much energy as I can, for an escape, or hopefully a rescue. I need you to describe the cell's door to me." I looked at the huge door.  
  
"It's big, metal, and looks heavy." Duo released a short laugh.  
  
"Is there a code block beside it?"  
  
"No, nothing."  
  
"Damn, can only open and close from the outside. Can you press and push on the door, see if it moves in the slightest way."  
  
"Sure." I gently laid his head on the floor as I got up and walked over to the door. I tried to move it in anyway I could think of, but it wouldn't budge in the slightest way.  
  
"No luck?"  
  
"Nope." I turned and went back to him.  
  
"Describe the room." I glanced around.  
  
"Not much to describe. It's about ten by ten, concrete walls and floors. The ceiling is, oh, I'd say about fifteen feet high with one light fixture that is annoyingly buzzing and flickering every once in awhile."  
  
"No windows?" He asked hopefully.  
  
"Nope?" I shot down his hope and sat back down beside him.  
  
"Damn! They're not given me anything. Okay, let's see, whenever someone comes in do they close the door behind them, or leave it open?"  
  
"They don't come in, they stay outside."  
  
"Christ!"  
  
"Duo?"  
  
"Pray for a rescue Relena."  
  
-----------------------------  
  
We sat in silence, me wishing we were out of there, and Duo devising a plain for that to happen. When the door opened both of our heads shot in its direction. A large man dressed in an OZ uniform stood in the doorway, glaring at us like we were some kind of a disease. To my surprise he had a black eye. I swear I heard Duo release a small groan as he looked away from the man. No, they're not-  
  
"Pilot 02, come with me." Duo sighed.  
  
"You know," he raised his head up from my lap and looked at the man again, "I really would like to, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have ta decline your offer." The man's face contorted, taking on the appearance of some kind of a monster, that or he was revealing his true self. I gripped Duo's shoulder.  
  
"Don't sass me you little bitch!" He sharply pointed his finger at Duo as he yelled.  
  
"Oh, is that what I am? Then it must've been pretty embarrassing telling your friends who gave you that black eye." The officer in one movement crossed the room and had Duo up in the air by his neck. I screamed as he pushed me aside and held onto Duo.  
  
"You're gonna pay for that!" Duo brought his hands up and tried to pry the man's off of his neck. His face began to go from bright red to purple as he began to make noises, fighting for air. I stood up and pounded my fists on the man's back.  
  
"Let go of him! Let go!" He shoved me away without even looking at me.  
  
"Officer Morris!" The officer and I both turned to see a commander in front of the cell's door. "Release him!"  
  
"I'll finish this later." He whispered before he allowed Duo to fall to the ground. Duo immediately began to gag as he tried to fill his burning lungs with air. The officer left at the order of his commander.  
  
"Duo!" I knelt down beside him. His eyes were tightly shut while he had his knees brought up to his chest. He shakily wheezed in and out. He released some coughs then sat up, shaking his head. He fought to gain control over his breathing then grinned.  
  
"That," he coughed again, "went as I thought." His voice was harsh from the damage caused to his throat, which was already turning black and blue. I looked at him in shock.  
  
"You mean you did that on purpose!?" He nodded his head yes. I smacked him in the back of the head.  
  
"Ow." He grabbed his head with his hands, the restraints still locking them together.  
  
"Ah, I can't believe you! You made me worry and-Ah!" I smacked him again.  
  
"Hey, hey!" He threw his hands up. "Enough already, enough! I'm injured remember?"  
  
"Ha, you think that now, wait till I'm through with you." I raised my hand.  
  
"Whoa, whoa!" Duo waved his hands. "Let me explain!" I brought my hand back down.  
  
"Fine. Talk." He opened his one eye and looked at me, seeing that I wasn't going to strike him he opened his other eye, but kept his hands raised still.  
  
"Gees, how does Heero put up with you?" I raised my hand slightly. "Okay, okay! Gees." He put his arms down and leaned against one of the walls. "Well, it was like a test, and Officer Morris passed it." I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "You see, you said that they never enter the room, well now we know it takes some coaxing. Next time I'll jump him, then we make our get away."  
  
I shook my head. "He's not going to come back in here, he'll get in trouble."  
  
"Oh no, he'll be back, and defiantly because he got in trouble. His prides been wounded, he's going to want to fix that. And since he'll get in trouble he'll make sure no one's around. That'll save us the trouble of extra guards by the cell door."  
  
He really had thought all of this out. He looked over his shoulder at me.  
  
"Forgive me?" I smiled and shook my head back and forth.  
  
"You big dope."  
  
The door opened revealing the commander. "Pilot 02, come with me." Duo glanced over at me and shot me a smile before he pushed off of the wall and walked, with a faltering pace from his injuries, over to the man. I bit my lower lip as I watched the door close behind him.  
  
"I hope they don't do anything to him." I mumbled to the empty room.  
  
--------------------------  
  
The door opened and I held my breath, waiting to see Duo's condition. It wasn't Duo in the doorway; it was the man who had brought me there. I sneered at him.  
  
"Let's go." Go? What? No, I couldn't leave. I had to be there for Duo, that and when we escaped it'd be too hard from him to come and find me.  
  
"I want to stay." I stood up from sitting on the floor.  
  
"Come, you've been in here long enough."  
  
"No, I want to stay here." I balled my hands into fists and let them rest at my sides. He studied me, like I was a puzzle that's pieces just wouldn't fit together.  
  
"Fine. I'm warning you though, if you remain here you'll receive no special treatment. No meals, nothing." He waited, as if I would change my mind at the threat of a lack of food. When I didn't move he shook his head and shut the door.  
  
"Ha, one point for Relena."  
  
------------------------------  
  
Duo walked into the room. Amazingly he looked the same from before, with the exception of a few more bruises and cuts, but he was still pretty much the same.  
  
"Oh, thank God, they didn't do anything to you." He leaned against the wall and slid down it until he was sitting on the floor. "Duo?" I sat down beside him.  
  
"We have to get out of here soon." He said it without looking at me.  
  
"What happened?" My voice was coated with concern.  
  
"Empty threats," he shrugged, "don't worry about it." I touched his hands, causing him to look at me.  
  
"What threats?" He sighed.  
  
"They're using you as a threat." He shook his head, he wasn't about to say they were threatening to kill me to get what they wanted, but he didn't have to, I knew it. "Don't worry, we'll get out of here."  
  
"I know it." The exhaustion that I had been fighting off for so long finally came over me. I rested my head on his shoulder. "Don't worry, everything will be fine." I said softly before I let the exhaustion take hold of me. 


	6. CHAPTER SIX

Notes: First off, this is the last chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it. Second, thank you all soooo much for the reviews. They really helped me to update as soon as possible. Third, someone asked in a review why I didn't have OZ follow Duo and Relena to the safe house; honestly because I hadn't thought of it. It does make a lot of sense. Let's just say that OZ grew too impatient, sound good? Fourth, I feel bad for those who are reading this story and want some Duo and Relena action, so after the story I placed a scene that I was debating if I should include in the story or not. So if you wanted them to hook up then read the thing after the story. And finally, if anyone is interested in whether I will be starting another story or not, the answer is yes. I have four stories floating around in my head right now, it's just a matter of picking one of them and starting it. It might not be for awhile though, so check back probably in about a month. Okay, gees! Well I hope you all enjoy and once again thank you so much for the reviews!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its characters.  
  
CHAPTER SIX  
  
I woke up with Duo's head resting on mine; he had fallen asleep as well. I didn't want to wake him, so I kept my head on his shoulder. He wheezed as he slept, obviously his broken ribs were making it hard for him to breath. I closed my eyes. He had to be in a lot of pain, I mean, how could he not be? Well, he certainly wasn't letting me know how bad off he was. I guess I appreciated that. If he didn't put on a strong face I certainly wouldn't be able to, I'd shatter like a mirror falling off of a high mantel. Inwardly I sighed. How were we going to get out of this?  
  
Duo mumbled something incoherent then pulled his head off of mine. I removed my head from his shoulder and watched him as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his hands cuffed together. He cleared his throat then looked over at me. I still remained nuzzled into him do to it being so cold in there, and I only had shorts and a tang top on.  
  
"How-" he cleared his throat again. It was soar from the choking incident. "How long was I out?"  
  
"I just woke up a few minutes ago myself." I pulled away from him and stretched my arms up over my head. "How are you?" I noticed him rubbing his neck and gingerly touching his side. He shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"I've been a lot worse." I laughed.  
  
"That's not an answer." Though it did have me thinking how much worse?  
  
"I'm fine. There, how's that?" He looked at me with a smart-ass grin.  
  
"Better." I glanced around the room and finding nothing to do I turned back to him. "Hey," he looked over at me, "where do you see yourself later?" He wrinkled his forehead, not understanding my question. "I mean in the future. What do you think you'll be doing after the war and all of this is over?" He shrugged his shoulders. I noticed he did that a lot.  
  
"I don't know. That's to say I even survive the war." That had me frowning. Of course he was going to live through the war. He had to see it to the end. He shook his head. "I don't know. I never look into the future. I take each day as it comes, always have. You have to as a soldier. You never know where you'll be tomorrow, or if you'll even be alive."  
  
"That's not true. You have to look into the future because you are a soldier. If you didn't then why would you be fighting? Obviously you're fighting for a certain outcome, and that deals with the future."  
  
"No, I'm not in this for the future. Sure it plays a part in it if you want to put all of the pieces and outcomes together, but just because it's one of the outcomes doesn't mean it's a result of one of the causes." I was shocked by his words. He must have noticed because he closed his eyes, sighed, and then reopened them.  
  
"I'm in this for the past and present. I'm in this to survive, and shamefully I'm fighting this war out of revenge too." He scratched the back of his neck. "You see, life for me has always been a test of surviving. Nothing was ever certain, and nothing was ever stable. If you want to live you have to fight for it. Right now I'm fighting to live, and fighting for those who have already lost the fight. You know the past will always be there, you don't know if the future will be."  
  
His words left me speechless. What could I say to that? I couldn't say that he was wrong, because he was right, even though I didn't want to accept it. He looked away from me and began to examine his wounds. I could tell he felt uncomfortable, like he had said too much, so I let him be.  
  
What had his childhood been like? 'Life has always been a test of surviving,' he was always fighting to live, something I had obviously taken for granted. He never took the time to play with toy trucks or blocks, he couldn't, he had to learn how to live.  
  
Did he fear death? I mean, he said he was fighting to survive, fighting to live. So he had to be fighting death then. But hadn't he called himself the 'God of Death?' Why would he say such a thing? Unless, yes that had to be it, the only way to overcome a fear is to face it. He wasn't facing his fear of death though. He was avoiding it by becoming his fear itself. If he was death then he no longer had to fear it. Only by becoming death itself could he escape it. I looked over at him. He was finishing up with re- bandaging his side wounds. Then what was with the priest attire? Wasn't that a huge contradiction? I slightly shook my head. This boy was beginning to give me a headache.  
  
---------------------------  
  
I was pacing around the small room, utterly bored out of my mind. Duo still remained sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the wall. Conserving his energy I assumed.  
  
"Relena, sit down already. You're making me tired."  
  
"Sorry." I stopped walking around and leaned up against the wall across from him. "It's just that I can't take it in here anymore."  
  
"Don't worry, Morris should be joining us soon."  
  
"You think so?" My stomach began to twist. When Morris got there that meant Duo would have to fight him. Was he capable of that with all of his injuries?  
  
"Yeah. My guess is that it's past eleven p.m., so he should be coming within the next few hours."  
  
I nervously began to fidget with my hands. Duo released an annoyed sigh.  
  
"God Relena. Would you just sit down." I wiped my hands on my shorts and walked towards him.  
  
"Do you believe in God?" He looked up at me like I was crazy.  
  
"Where the hell did that come from?"  
  
"Well you just said God, and, well, I don't know, you wear the whole priest attire and a cross. So I was just wondering." He laughed and shook his head.  
  
"You are the most random person." I crossed my arms, going in defense mod.  
  
"What? It's just a question." I sat down Indian style beside him. "That and I'm really bored. So," I turned to him, "do you believe in God?"  
  
"Haven't we talked about me enough already?" He glanced over at me. "Let's talk about you now." I shook my head no.  
  
"Nope, you have to answer my question. Then you can ask me one to make it fair." He just looked at me. "Come on, its not like we have anything else to do." He leaned his head against the wall and looked up at the ceiling.  
  
"Fine." He dragged the word out like a child being told to do a chore. "Do I believe in God?" He closed his eyes. "I ask myself that question everyday. I guess I want to believe, but" he sighed and opened his eyes, "but I guess when it comes down to it, I don't."  
  
Oops, definitely not a good topic for him. I could tell it was hard for him to admit his feelings, and here I was prying him open with a pair of pliers. I decided to hide the pliers and tell him to go ahead and ask me a question now, but he continued before I could.  
  
"These clothes," he motioned to them, "and this cross," he pulled it out from under his shirt, "I guess I wear them to try and prove to myself that I still do have faith, but inwardly I know I'm just a hypocrite."  
  
"No you're not. You're just confused, that's all. If you want to believe that shows that there is something telling you to believe."  
  
"I suppose." He moved his neck to the side, cracking it. "So," he changed the tone of his voice so quickly from melancholy to cheery, "what should I ask you?" He raised and wiggled his eyebrows as he grinned at me.  
  
I slapped him on the shoulder. "No Duo, a serious question." He waved his index finger back and forth in front of me.  
  
"Ah ah ah, you said I could ask you any question." He put emphasis on the word 'any.' I slanted my head to the side and looked at him. He wasn't really going to ask me what I think he was? Was he? He released a laugh.  
  
"I was just kidding." I inwardly sighed in relief. He grabbed his chin with his hand, taking on the famous thinking position. "Hmm, what to ask." After a few moments he slowly removed his hand from his chin and turned to me. I braced myself for the question. Duo did have a creative mind.  
  
"If you could choose to live the way it was before the war started, free from all of the pain and knowledge that you've gained, would you?" Wow. I definitely was not ready for that question. I looked away from him as I sorted through everything.  
  
"Life for me was so much better before the war. I had a father. Times were happy for my family. But it always felt like I was in the dark, hidden in the shadows. So much was kept from me."  
  
"That wasn't my life. I was Relena, the daughter of a respectable man, best in her class, most traveled and experienced person of my generation. Yet I knew nothing and had no one. I was always in a crowd, but I always felt so alone."  
  
"I've come to harsh realizations and have seen horrible things. But through everything I've finally found myself. I'm Relena, nothing else matters, no matter who my parents are, or how I was raised I'm simply me. So would I go back to being in the dark? No, even though the light still stings my eyes."  
  
------------------------------  
  
"Mark."  
  
"Nathan."  
  
"Ophelia."  
  
"Ha! I said that name already!"  
  
"No you didn't! You said O-" I slapped myself in the forehead.  
  
"Ha ha! Told you! I am the winner!" Duo gloated, raising his clasped hands over his head and shaking them.  
  
"Oh please, last round you couldn't even come up with a name for the letter T, come on T!" He was about to retort when the door slid open. Officer Morris stood in the doorway and smiled down at Duo.  
  
"No one's going to stop me this time." He charged across the room and heaved Duo off of the ground and flung him up against the wall. Morris didn't even look at me while he grabbed onto Duo. I watched, horrified, as he slammed Duo's back up against the wall, his feet dangling above the floor. He kept him pressed against it by grabbing onto his shirt with his hands.  
  
"Little bitch!" He pulled Duo away from the wall and slammed him back up against it. Duo's head smacked the wall and he released a short outburst as a reflex from the flash of pain that it caused. "Already screaming for mercy?" Morris' eyes danced as he starred at Duo. "I'll give you two choices, one, I kill you, or two, you beg for mercy and I'll let you live." Duo raised his head so that he could look him in the eyes. His eyes were so empty, so cold. I had never seen Duo look like that. He looked like death.  
  
"I'll take door number three." Duo said slowly in a low tone.  
  
"Oh yeah." I noticed that for a second, Morris lost his composure. For the first time he sensed that he might be in danger. "What's that?" A slow grin came across Duo's face.  
  
"You die." Duo's right knee came up and slammed into Morris' left side. As he did that he brought his hands up and hit Morris on the side of the head with them, with the handcuffs still on it added to the force of it. From the shock and force of the attack Morris took a step back. Duo took advantage of it and the extra space between him and the wall. He placed his feet on it and shoved off of it, sending him and the unsteady Morris to the ground.  
  
Before Duo could throw another punch at him, which is what I assumed he would do, Morris threw him off of his chest. Duo rolled across the ground and the two got up at the same time. I stood there, my hands clenched together, as I helplessly looked on. I knew that I would only get in the way if I tried to help.  
  
Duo took on a fighting stance. He was going to be the one in defense mood. He knew he didn't have that much energy in him with the already existing injuries, so he would have to defend until Morris ran out of energy from attacking. Without any thought into his action Morris charged at him. Duo blocked the blows as best he could. Since the room was so small he was being pushed back up against the wall.  
  
Duo must have noticed it because he ducked under Morris' next swing and pushed him in the back, causing them to switch positions, now Morris was the one against the wall. Morris continued to blindly swing at Duo, who continued to block, until Morris swung out his one leg while punching, taking Duo's legs out from under him. Duo fell to the ground and Morris flung himself on top of him, swinging his arms.  
  
I screamed as I watched Duo struggling to force him off. Finally Duo landed a solid punch to his nose and then was able to shove him off. Morris shook his head, his vision blurred from the direct hit. Duo charged him, crashing him into the wall. He swung his fists at him twice in the face, causing blood to spew out of his mouth, then once in the gut, sending him to the ground. Duo bent down and raised Morris' head, he was unconscious. He checked him for the keys to his cuffs. With a sigh of relief he withdrew them from one of his pockets. Next he checked him for weapons and found a knife in his one boot.  
  
"Duo?" I moved over to him. He stood up, holding onto the knife and key, and wiped blood off of his mouth. Morris had landed several good punches, and that was evident from Duo's appearance and stance. He stood holding his stomach, obviously in pain. I placed his arm over my shoulder.  
  
"You okay?" He nodded his head yes then raised his hands with the key in them. I took it and undid the cuffs. They fell to the ground with a clang and left their rough marks on his wrists. He motioned towards the door and we walked over to it and checked to make sure no one was there.  
  
"I'm fine now." He removed his arm from my shoulder and stood on his own. "Was just a little dizzy." He turned to me and gave me the best smile he could manage with his busted lip. "You ready?" I nodded my head. "Alright, stay right behind me the entire time."  
  
We left the cell and carefully made our way down the hall. When the alarms sounded Duo pushed me into a doorway. He raised his finger over his lips, signaling for me to be silent. When a guard ran by us he lunged out at him, sending him to the ground. He knocked the stunned young man out quickly and removed the gun from his hands. He turned and motioned for me to come. We continued to make our way, ducking and avoiding the soldiers.  
  
I could tell Duo's body was protesting with each movement. For the second time I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him into a doorway before he fell over. He obviously wasn't doing well. Several officers ran down the hall. We ducked into a room.  
  
"Okay," he breathed heavily, "we're on level B-4, which means we gotta go at least four floors up before we can get out of the building." He wiped perspiration off of his forehead and was about to say more when a soldier opened the room's door. Duo quickly threw the knife he took from Morris at the man's throat, causing him to fall to the ground and not allowing him to scream.  
  
"Shit!" Duo pushed me behind a desk as more men entered the room. He slid across the floor and took protection under another desk across from mine. I watched him, my hands covering my head, as he fired at the soldiers from behind the desk. They opened fire at him; sending splinters of wood everywhere. I screamed when a bullet entered his arm. He didn't even take note of it as he continued to aim from behind the desk at the men.  
  
We weren't going to make it out of this; there was no way. Duo must have realized this because he raised his gun up above the desk, signally his surrender. The gunfire stopped and he slowly stood up, his arms above his head. When I heard shooting again I screamed expecting to see Duo fall to the ground, but he didn't, he remained standing. He started firing again then. When the gunfire ended a poked my head out from behind the desk. What the hell had just happened?  
  
Bodies littered the floor in a pool of blood, and standing behind them was Heero. "Heero!" I got up from behind the desk and ran to him, flinging my arms around his neck. He didn't return the embrace, but I didn't mind, I was just glad that he was there. He didn't act surprised to see me, but if he knew to come here for Duo, he must have known I was there as well.  
  
"It's about time Yuy." Duo fell back against the wall.  
  
"Duo!" I let go of Heero and ran to him. He was bleeding badly. Great, he had already lost enough blood. Heero removed the weapons from the bodies and turned to us.  
  
"Can you walk?" Duo nodded his head yes. "Then let's go." He tossed Duo a gun. He caught it with his one hand.  
  
"Lean on me." I ordered Duo. He didn't argue as he placed his weight against me.  
  
"Seems we always end up like this." He quietly said as we followed Heero. Sirens were going off and soldiers were everywhere. Heero pulled a grenade out, from where I'm not sure, and launched it behind us. He shot at the soldiers in front of us who were headed our way. Duo fired his gun, taking out a few men.  
  
Heero stopped and pushed us up against a wall. "Ouch, gees Heero." Heero glared at Duo.  
  
"Stop complaining." Duo rolled his eyes.  
  
"Well aren't we just a ray of fricken sunshine." Duo said under his breath. I was surprised when Heero quickly took hold of my one hand. He threw a smoke bomb, causing the room to be taken over by a huge gray cloud. He held onto my hand and led me through the smoke; Duo still clung to my side. I could hear people firing blindly into the smoke while we passed them by unnoticed.  
  
The rest of our escape was a blur to me. I remember running and Heero and Duo shooting at people. Everyone once in a while Duo would say a smart-ass remark, which would be followed by a grunt or death glare from Heero. Heero would shout an instruction to Duo, or vice versa. The two seemed to be in complete control of the chaotic situation.  
  
We broke free from the building and made our way to the outer edge of the base. Heero jumped over the huge metal fence and landed on the other side.  
  
"I hope you don't expect me to be able to do that." Duo said in an exasperated voice. Heero pulled a small object out, a laser. He used it to cut a hole in the fence for us to go through. Once we made it through that we worked our way through the surrounding forest. Duo was getting too heavy for me, his weight felt like I was being crushed by a large rock. Heero must have noticed because he stopped and moved Duo so that he now rested up against him. The side of me that Duo had been on was covered in blood. I held back the urge to vomit.  
  
We continued on a little further until we reached a black jeep that Heero must have stored for our escape. He gently laid Duo in the back seat while I got in the passenger's side. Relief washed over me, like a bucket of water being poured over my head, when Heero started the jeep and we began to move away from the base. Finally, we were out of there. As the relief came over me so did the exhaustion. I certainly wasn't trained or conditioned for everything that had happened. A curled my legs up under me like a cat and rested my head against the car door.  
  
I was on the verge of sleep when I heard Duo. "Hey Heero, I'm sorry that I got Relena involved in all of this." He must have thought that I had fallen asleep. "I didn't have a choice. You know that, right?" Heero must have nodded his head yes because I didn't hear a response from him. "Alright then." Duo released a sigh. "Well, I can't hang on anymore. I'm going under."  
  
"Duo."  
  
"Hmm?" Duo responded, he sounded so distant, he was about to become unconscious.  
  
"Thank you, for protecting her." Duo released a sigh and then nothing more. I fell asleep shortly after.  
  
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Heero gently shook me awake. "We're here." He opened my door and gave me his hand to help me out of the car. I took it and when I was standing on the ground he released it and opened the back door. He gently lifted Duo up and carried him in his arms like a father carrying his child who had fallen asleep on the way home. I entered a small cottage, Heero followed me in.  
  
The cottage was cute. It must have been someone's vacation home because some family photos rested on one of the end tables. Heero entered one of the bedrooms and placed Duo on the bed. He immediately began to tend to his wounds and injuries. I was about to suggest we take him to a hospital, but then realized how foolish it would be. When I saw how expertly Heero was taking care of Duo I was no longer concerned. I left the room and decided to see if there was anything in the kitchen to make for us.  
  
I found some soup and began to make it as Heero walked in. "How is he?" He sat down in one of the chairs surrounding a small wooden table with plastic flowers in the center of it.  
  
"He'll be fine. He lost a lot of blood, so he'll probably be out for awhile."  
  
"Hungry?" He nodded his head yes. I took out two bowls from a cupboard above the stove.  
  
"How are you?" I turned to face him. He didn't show any concern in his voice, but I could just barely see it in his eyes. That was the only place to see what Heero was feeling, the eyes.  
  
"I'm fine. Tired, it's been a long," I stopped and thought, "week?"  
  
"Just about." Heero crossed his arms in front of his chest. I turned back to the soup and dished some of it out into the bowls. I sat in the chair across from him.  
  
"So, how'd you find out where we were?" I smiled as I lifted my spoon full of noodles.  
  
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One of us constantly kept a vigil over Duo. When he awoke I was in the room. "Hey sleeping beauty." I gently said as he opened his eyes. He gave a slight grin.  
  
"I highly doubt that I'm looking 'beautiful' right now." He said in a groggy voice. I laughed.  
  
"You're right, far from it." I agreed as I looked at his bruised face. "How ya feel?" He laughed.  
  
"I've been a lot worse." I shook my head with a smile at his response.  
  
"You okay?" He asked seriously.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine."  
  
"Good, I don't know what I would've done if you got hurt or anything." His concern touched me. "Sorry you got involved in all of this."  
  
"I'm not, if I hadn't I wouldn't have you as a friend." He lightly smiled then closed his eyes, returning to the sleep that beckoned him. I bent over and lightly kissed him on the forehead. I remained in the room watching over him, just like I'm sure he had done so many times for me. At the beginning of the journey we had been strangers. He kept his wall up, not wanting to allow anyone in, but I felt like I had entered, and I felt that I belonged there, and knew I was going to stay there.  
  
END.  
  
I hope you all liked it! Gees, that was a rather long chapter, maybe I should have divided it into two, oh well. Okay, well the following paragraphs are for those who wanted some Duo and Relena action. Enjoy!  
  
"I'm fine now." He removed his arm from my shoulder and stood on his own. "Was just a little dizzy." He turned to me and gave me the best smile he could manage. "You ready?" I nodded my head yes. He looked at me strangely, then his hand cupped the back of my neck firmly as his other raised my chin up lightly.  
  
I looked at him in shock and was about to ask him if he was alright when his lips lightly covered mine. I didn't draw back; I just stood there in complete shock. The kiss was smooth, skilled, and soothing.  
  
His head changed angles and the kiss became deep. I staggered, and before I realized it my lips parted under his. A shiver ran down me as our teeth lightly scrapped up against each other and his tongue teased mine into a slow dance.  
  
My hand gripped his sleeve as my mind began to blur, then he slowly eased away. It took a moment for my head to clear. "What was that for?" I asked, trying to regain control of the situation and myself.  
  
"A thank you, for everything."  
  
Ha ha ha, okay, that was fun. Okay, now I'm finally done! Take care all! Disturbed_girl 


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